Pete Carroll says Jim Harbaugh has done “a marvelous job”

Posted by Michael David Smith on June 15, 2013, 12:17 PM EDT

AP

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll may be seeking to thaw the frosty relationship between his team and the division rival 49ers.

Asked in an interview on NFL Network about the war of words that has erupted between his team and 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh, Carroll didn’t take the bait and instead talked about how much respect he has for the defending NFC West champions.

“They’re a great program,” Carroll said of the 49ers. “They’ve done a marvelous job since Jim took over and they’ve done it all on the field. We respect that our division has really changed, we’ve changed along with it, and every single game we play is the biggest rival that we would ever know. . . . They’ve done some really cool things and play exciting football, and we love matching up with the division.”

Carroll and Harbaugh have had a rivalry dating back years, since before either of them were in their current jobs. In 2009, Carroll angrily asked Harbaugh, “What’s your deal?” when Harbaugh’s Stanford team ran up the score against Carroll’s USC team, and the two of them haven’t hidden the fact that while they may respect each other as coaches, they don’t particularly like each other.

But Carroll also seems to recognize that a public war of words with Harbaugh isn’t a wise idea, especially considering that the subject of the latest back-and-forth between the two teams, focusing on the Seahawks having several players test positive for performance-enhancing drugs, doesn’t exactly cast Carroll’s team in a positive light. And so Carroll is offering up a positive view of the Seahawks’ chief rivals.

Which will do nothing to diminish the rivalry when the teams meet on the field this season.

It doesn’t matter that these two don’t like each other or want to grab a beer together. They were fierce rivals in the PAC-12 and now they have brought legitimacy to what used to be the worse division in the NFL. But you can bet they respect the hell out of each other because the other guy is a really good coach.

Seahawks and Vikings fans are the most classless fans out there, they talk the talk when their team is winning but when they lose they go hide under a rock, and don’t have the balls to admit their wrong

MDS can you please for once just give Pete Carroll a shred of credit? every article this site writes about anything always has to end painting him in a fairly negative light. the guy came in and turned a team into a contender in 2 years and they are now possible favorites for the super bowl next year. He did this all while being a consumate professional as well as an outstanding role model and face of the franchise. Could you honestly ask for a better human being to be coaching your team? I for one am proud that we can call him coach.

What Pete is really trying to say is that he is impressed that Jim Harbaugh has gotten the 49ers to play at such a high level without PED’s. Or more accurately, without having any of his players get caught.

Pete wants in on the secret because he is incapable of coaching a clean team, college or pro.

This whole deal started right after Harbaugh took the Stanford job. Before the Cardinal and Trojans even played each other, Jim threw Pete under the bus by saying Pete was getting ready to leave USC. That may or may not be true but Harbaugh launched the first shot unsolicited outing Carroll.

The gamesmanship might have worked because shortly after, Stanford beat Carroll and the Trojans 24-23 in the greatest college football upset ever.

jjh1982 says:
Jun 15, 2013 12:56 PM
Seahawks and Vikings fans are the most classless fans out there, they talk the talk when their team is winning but when they lose they go hide under a rock, and don’t have the balls to admit their wrong

Every fanbase has those fans so quit with the Such and Such teams fans are the worst garbage..Also when one shares their opinion on classless or anything else for that matter a slight understanding of the english language and proper use of the word their would help.. Ill help you out though..its they’re wrong..you’re welcome

lionsdraftguy says:
Jun 15, 2013 1:47 PM
Jim Harbaugh IS a great coach, no doubt. Hes just dirty, classless, has a big mouth, and coaches for the most classless organization in football.

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Why do I have this image of you being this guy “living in a van down by the river eating a steady diet of government cheese” or still living in your mom’s basement while a 3-day old spaghetti stain hardens on your 2-week old Ocean Pacific button up??

The Seahawks fans mentioning the word class? 6 suspensions due to roids, blaming a SB loss entirely on the refs, a coach who left college knowing NCAA penalties were coming, the biggest mouth on a player in the NFL, a celebrating a song that calls an opposing coach a douche. Real class. Every organization has its bad points and good points, good fans and bad fans. Stop acting like your above it.

Keep celebrating a regular season win, a big hit on our tight end, a flag with a slogan stolen from a college, and opposing false starts induced by your stadium which is engineered to keep the noise in. We will celebrate real success….past, present, and future.

The Seahawks fans mentioning the word class? 6 suspensions due to roids, blaming a SB loss entirely on the refs, a coach who left college knowing NCAA penalties were coming, the biggest mouth on a player in the NFL, a celebrating a song that calls an opposing coach a douche. Real class. Every organization has its bad points and good points, good fans and bad fans. Stop acting like your above it.

Keep celebrating a regular season win, a big hit on our tight end, a flag with a slogan stolen from a college, and opposing false starts induced by your stadium which is engineered to keep the noise in. We will celebrate real success….past, present, and future.

P.S. Where did Holmgren, Carroll, and Lynch grow up?

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With that logic lets talk about the biggest mouth in the NfL..I’m assuming you mean Sherman. Where is he from again? Oh yeah thats right CALIFORNIA.What college? Stanford..You guys have somebody from stanford there somewhere don’t you? oh yeah thats right your head coach used to coach “the biggest mouth in the NFL”.
Also..Again when youre voicing your opinion on class or anything else please for the love of god learn the proper use of words.”Stop acting like your above it” see a problem?
Your team has a long storied history of which nobody would ever dispute but the way some of you act nowadays I would venture to guess that Rice,Young,Montana and others would be quite embarassed you rooted for them.

Are you people friggin blind or just plain dumb? Carrol is the biggest prick out there. Harbaugh is and has always been intense and competive and the dude is an outstanding coach! He wins where ever he goes. Carrol said it right, it shows on the field.

You kids keep hashing and rehashing that ‘rivalry’ out. Meanwhile in STL, where the team that went 5-1-1 in the division is SILENTLY working on improving, we’re going to enjoy hearing you say, “Where the hell did that come from?!”

I do love it so, reading all of these Whiners supporters, who are finally admitting that the Ravens are a much better team than the red and gold. For a while I thought you all might be bitter towards the team from Baltimore. But now I see it for what it is, you are full of respect for the team that manhandled you and left you for dead in New Orleans. Way to go, Whiners!!!

In case you 49ers whiners didn’t notice, you’re 0- for the 21 st century. We Seahawks fans laugh at you because all you can point to is ancient history. Using your standard the Italians should the most feared military in the world.

Get with it. It’s a new century, and you losers are oh-for-it. And the Seahawks are going to keep it that way for a long time to come.

Pete Carroll wasn’t being classy he understands that we’re the superior football team it’s the same thing boxers do with Floyd mayweather they know not to make him mad or the beating will be more brutal FYI I can’t stand Floyd. Now I wonder where the PED and Roid cabinet is located at the Seahawks facility. Keep taking them hawks fans cause I’m gonna enjoy this for a long time.